The chemistry joining pianist Ivo Neame – with his Django Batesian rhythm-swaps hitched to classic jazz roots in Bill Evans and Chick Corea – to Jasper Hoiby’s double-bass muscle and the maniacally personal sound of drummer Anton Eger make Phronesis a wonderful live band. But though live recordings have represented them best, this single-day Abbey Road session gets very close. Each member contributes three tracks, with Eger’s 67,000mph (Earth’s rotational speed) in hot pursuit of its title with a rampant drums intro preceding a Corea-like Latin hook; Neame’s OK Chorale turning a swaying waltz into knotty contrapuntalisms; and Hoiby’s Stillness building rich bass-bowings to an edgily rocking vamp. Neame’s Bill Evans romanticism surfaces on A Kite for Seamus; Manioc Maniac has a battering, rockish energy; Eger’s Rabat is a folk theme that becomes a demented dance. The whisper-to-roar pattern of their pieces could use a little adjustment, and I’d love to hear Phronesis apply their wizardry to a cover or two, but their continuing rapport and eagerness to develop are unmistakeable.
